I hope this is the right board for this. If it's not then feel free to move it.

To those who don't know I grew up with a chihuahua mix. He lived at my grandma's house since I was 6 and she gave him to me when I was 13 because she had cancer and my grandpa neglected him. I would go visit him almost every week. He stayed in their backyard in a fenced area. When I got him I kept him inside. He would follow me everywhere. I would take him to the beach for walks. When I played games he slept on my lap. Etc.

He got sick. He had cancer and some of his organs were failing. We had to put him down. This was all unexpected. He was on meds but they stopped working so we didn't have a choice.

Everyday I miss him. Sometimes at night I think about him a lot. He was the best dog I've ever had. I'm still not over him after all these months. I still break down and cry.

I spent a fortune to get him cremated so I have an urn for him with his collar around it.

How do you move on from something like this? Does it just take time?

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You are a very special person. There is only one like you in the whole world. There's never been anyone exactly like you before, and there never will be again. Only You. And people can like you exactly as you are.flatter me • art thread

I can't give any guarantees, but the things that helped me was spending time with my other dogs after one of them passed away, and talking about the good experiences we had with that dog. We had gotten a young puppy shortly after finding out my dog was had liver cancer, sort of as a replacement playmate for the other one. Having other pets was very calming, and talking about why we loved the dog we lost made the memories seem more happy than sad.

In the end, I guess time was the biggest thing that made it easier. It's always extremely difficult to lose someone you love, but remembering to reflect on the good times might make it easier.

I personally think it just takes time. When both of my dogs died (within weeks of each other) I was depressed but after a while I accepted it. It took almost a year, though.Like dolly said, remembering them could help too. Along with maybe getting another pet.

Also, think about how fulfilling his life was. You gave him a good life- a life he deserved.

Back in June, my cat unexpectedly passed away. I'm still pretty upset about it, so I can empathize with your situation.It sounds silly, but time is going to be the most helpful thing. Grieving can take a while, and there's no shame in turning to friends and family if you need some support, even months later. It took time for you to build such a strong relationship with your dog that letting go is going to take time too.Finding ways to keep yourself busy can be helpful. Find a new hobby, a job, or something that'll keep your mind from dwelling on him for too long. If you have other pets, spending lots of time with them is a great idea.

Through it all it'll mostly take time... The memory is still fresh in your mind and you still likely have some regrets... Maybe not major but maybe you still wonder if maybe something could've changed if you did something different and maybe they would've been around longer.

But it's not your fault. It was just that... well... they died... and there wasn't anything you could do about it. But think about it... you had so much fun and gave that dog such a good life! They might be gone but maybe they're at rest. Who knows? death is mysterious.

I think most of all just let the emotions out. It takes longer for things to process when just in your head but talking with people (yes... has to be IRL because internet is just mind recieving stimulus and not the same as with a person)

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Reality is the things that, no matter how hard you try, won't cease to exist.